Rikku and the Mimic
by Jade Xianghua
Summary: What starts as a normal day quickly goes downhill for Rikku as the party decides to explore the Omega cave. Filled with lethal fiends and creatures she's never encountered before it's no wonder she finds herself in trouble. Minor spoilers! R
1. Sidetracking Antics

**Rikku and the Mimic**

"Remind me again, why are we here?" Rikku mumbled to no one in particular as she plopped herself down on a nearby rock. This cave was surely driving her crazy, the fiends, the lack of light, and those creepy turtle things… she's much rather be snuggled up in her bed at this precise moment. Sure this "Omega" guy, fiend- whatever was in here, but he was isolated away from the rest of Spira. No harm to anybody and all that. This led her into wondering the very question she had just asked.

She didn't hear any footsteps; that meant that they were actually paying a bit of attention to her. She averted her eyes to the ground, not wanting to look at the mixture of glances she must be receiving. A few glares, a few stares, some rolled eyes; the usual. Auron was probably the one glaring at her, being his usual meanie self and right now she couldn't be bothered with his disapproval. Even if she defeated Sin single-handedly with just a flick to its oversized nose, he wouldn't bat an eyelash. Stupid Auron and his indifference.

"Well…" Tidus drew out the word as Rikku looked up and could almost hear the cogs turning in his head. "It seemed worth checking out." He finished with a lopsided grin on his face while he nervously scratched the back of his head. Rikku frowned. Was that it?

"Well…" She said mimicking Tidus' response, while getting up to her feet and placing her hands on her hips. "I feel like checking in to one of Rin's agencies. But that doesn't mean it's going to happen." She finished her point by protruding a pink tongue at Tidus. She could hear Yuna giggle from the side lines; retracting her tongue she sent a grin in her cousin's direction. Wakka was looking amused, his expression was illuminated by the dull blue glow of a nearby crystal, but she could make out him fighting to keep a smile of his own off his face. Lulu, close to Yuna's side and half concealed in Wakka's shadow, just shook her head and began adjusting her Mog toy quietly. Kimarhi was as statuesque as usual. Rikku always wondered if he had an unspoken competition with Auron to be the better silent strong type of the group. _'You go Kimarhi! Beat that grump'  
_

"We need all the training we can get." Auron stated, interrupting Rikku's train of thought before it progressed any further. He was approaching her and looking at her with one of those deathly serious looks which said 'One more comment like that and I'll personally boot you off the airship at the next given opportunity'. She was slightly scared of that look, he'd given her it many times before but the time that flashed to mind was the aftermath of the battle with Evrae. She really was in the position to have been booted off the airship! Then again maybe she thought she shouldn't have commented on the fact his face resembled a Cactuar, green and prickly, while he had been poisoned…_even if it was true_. Luckily they had a wedding to crash so Auron was denied the chance of enacting his revenge.

"But why _here_?" Rikku whined while using her trademark pout -which Auron was unfortunately resistant to. He chuckled lightly into his oversized collar, his eye twinkling with mirth, contrasting the look he had given her only minutes before.

"…We could always train in the Thunder Plains." He said with a smirk. _'Oh no way! Auron's not winning this round- It's not fair!'_ Rikku just glared at Auron with all the glaring strength she could muster; which just caused Auron to start chuckling again. She decided she would try a different approach as glaring always seemed to have the opposite effect when dealing with the oldest Guardian. Turning to the rest of the group, while intentionally ignoring Auron, she chirped to them loudly,

"Hey, what are you waiting for slowpokes?" and at this point Wakka muttered 'You' but Rikku pretended she hadn't heard him and continued in a slightly louder tone. "The sooner we start moving the quicker we'll get out of here!" She said as she threw in an energetic fist into the air in an attempt to inspire the group into her way of thinking. Tidus seemed to catch up on Rikku's attempt and joined in with his own enthusiasm. He pulled out his sword, _the Brotherhood_ and swung it in the air.

"Let's blitz!" He yelled.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Rikku said cheerfully, spinning around on her heel to face the direction they were previously going in. "Let's go!" After taking one step however, she managed to get her foot lodged in something hideously slimy. Immediately she retracted her foot as though it was burned and shook it about in the air, trying to get the ooze off.

"Aaahh! I _hate_ this cave!" She wailed while hopping around on one foot. Lulu's sleeve immediately came up to cover her mouth as a small laugh escaped her lips. Wakka however, wasn't as subtle. His loud booming laughter echoed through the cave and others soon joined him. Rikku upon hearing Wakka's laughter first, stormed right up to him while he was regaining his composure and prodded him sharply in the chest.

"It's not funny." She snapped, glaring at him. Wakka gazed at the ceiling of the cave and rested a hand on his forehead, unable to look her in the eye. Both Lulu and Rikku possessed the ability to make Wakka as uncomfortable and as guilty as possible when either one of them was mad at him. This time was no exception.

"I'm sorry… It's just that you were hopping around all funny…" So far Wakka was making a real mess of his apology Lulu thought and just shook her head at him, he had a lot to learn about women. If anything it had made Rikku's glare intensify. "…and uh, Tidus was laughing too! Why aren't you mad at _him_?" Wakka asked; frustrated at the hole he was digging himself into.

"Traitor…" Tidus muttered.

"Because-" She said while prodding Wakka sharply in the chest again. "you-" Another prod. "were laughing-" A few more prods to the same spot made Wakka wince. "LOUDEST!" She yelled; her voice a few octaves higher than what it started as and prodded even harder. Tidus winced, almost feeling sorry for Wakka, but he had been put into the doghouse too because of him so he deserved it… almost.

"Ouch! You know that hurts, ya?" Wakka objected taking a few steps back from the enraged girl having finally had enough of the poking.

"Are we finished alerting the fiends to our presence?" Auron asked tersely while glaring at Wakka and Rikku in particular. Rikku couldn't help but think if Auron had such a lethal glare with one eye, she'd have hated to meet him when he had two, though perhaps the lack of an eye made him more intimidating. Still, she dropped her head in shame and scuffed her foot on the ground a few times. Wakka acted similarly embarrassed; Auron usually had that affect on people when he was irritated with them.

"Um… yes?" She answered weakly, eyes still downcast knowing that if she met his eye she'd feel ten times worse than she already is. Auron didn't offer a response and just turned around and walked off; his usual way of ending a conversation. Hearing the sound of footsteps, Rikku gazed up and reluctantly followed Auron in silence as the rest of the group did the same.


	2. RUN!

_Author note: Just wanted to say that this chapter's slightly different and before anyone asks, it isn't an Aurrikku story. More of a group story, but will be focusing a little more on those two later on. (Why you may wonder? Author secret) And if you see any mistakes, let me know. Haven't got a beta really... Anyways enjoy.

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**Rikku and the Mimic**

_Chapter 2: RUN!_

The group had been walking in silence for a good few minutes now without any mishaps. Rikku had been tempted to say _'So where's those fiends we alerted, eh Auron?'_ but the telling off she had previously gotten and coupled with the hesitation against breaking the silence kept her quiet. Being told off by Auron always made her feel inferior because of her attitude and age. It wasn't easy being the youngest in the group after all! At least a weight had been lifted off her shoulders when they confronted Yunalesca about the true nature of Sin. Yunie might live now! Though a new way to defeat Sin hadn't arose yet, she and Tidus were still thinking on it. In the meantime she'd make the most of everyone's company. After Sin, she dared herself to think, things will be different. She had no reason to think they'd all stay together afterwards. Just thinking about it made her feel slightly teary. She shook her head a bit as if trying to shake off her less than cheery thoughts, then realised she was failing behind slightly and began to walk a little faster.

This silence was beginning to drive her mad though the background noise from the cave freaked her out. Without the cheerful banter they usually had when travelling about Spira together, this cave seemed a whole lot creepier than it had been. She involuntarily shivered as some freezing water dripped from the ceiling of the tunnel onto her head while she rubbed her arms fiercely for warmth. Damn her stylish clothing to the farplane; it was designed for heat, sand dunes and flexibility not cold, damp, creepy caves filled with fiends, she thought dismally. Curiously, she wondered if she was the only one feeling cold. She thought not, after all Wakka, Lulu and Yuna had travelled all the way from Besaid; a small tropical island at the edge of Spira. Tidus sure hadn't crawled out of a cave somewhere either. Though throughout the journey he seemed pretty tolerant of whatever the elements threw at him.

She glanced about the group curiously; Wakka was hunched over slightly, hugging his blitzball into his chest- definitely feeling the cold. Lulu was walking steadily onwards, her dark midnight dress slithering across the ground as she moved. She seemed generally resistant to the cold, not surprising since she could call ice to her finger tips whenever she felt like it. Yuna seemed a little chilled too, though like Lulu it didn't show on her face; Yuna's face was a mask of unwavering determination that had more frequently shown it's self in recent times that it ever did during the pilgrimage. Kimarhi heading the group with Auron, was generally fine, though Rikku was sure the fur coat had something to do with it.

Finally, Auron was also completely indifferent to the cold, Rikku might have went as far to say he was indifferent to life… but that wasn't exactly a fair thing to say. She'd seen what had happened at Zanarkand, she seen what he once was like through the spheres, what in the end almost destroyed him and to be honest Rikku didn't know what to make of it. The pilgrimage and lulled them into its deceptive depths with promises of defeating Sin until after finally reaching the final destination; Zanarkand. It was like how she felt during Yuna's pilgrimage; it seemed that it could go on forever… until Zanarkand. Then the reality of what was happening struck all at once. This was it. No turning back. Only at that critical moment had Auron challenged Braska's decision, the teachings of Yevon in an attempt to save his friends from a potentially meaningless death. She wondered if that if things had worked out differently for Yuna, would she have said those same words Auron had said?

…Probably, though she had been saying them all along… But did that mean she and Auron were more similar than she thought…?

She shook her head once more, Auron was an enigma and the more she thought about him the bigger the headache she got. It's much easier to think of him as the grumpy old guardian who has an obsession with trying to hurry everyone up and be as cryptic as possible. Besides, she and Auron were two _very_ different people.

* * *

Rikku, who was focusing her thoughts more than walking soon managed to trip on virtually nothing a few moments later and land on her knees on the rough cavern floor. She groaned and hit her fist against the ground. 

"Aw come on! Give me a break here!" She yelled at no one in particular while rubbing her now sore hand.

"Try and keep up Rikku." Auron said deadpanned, she looked up to see Auron's imposing form looking down at her and glanced around to see that the rest of the group had been a little startled by her outburst but otherwise kept moving. Turning her eyes back to Auron, she just glared at him and got up to her feet and rubbed her slightly raw knees.

"I can keep up! I've got this far haven't I? I'm not even tired anyways." She said indignantly.

"You fell." He stated with a little amusement. _'That's it! You really aren't anything other than a grumpy old guardian! You hear me?'_

"Because I was thinking, duh! Very important thoughts too!" She lied. Her thoughts hadn't been _that_ important, she just had a tendency to get distracted. If she told Auron that she had been distracted, she'd end up getting a lecture about being alert so she can guard Yuna better from fiends and she really didn't want a lecture at the moment. She wanted a warm bath, comfy clothes and a cup of warm tea.

"How to beat Sin?" He asked, knowing that it probably wasn't the case. He knew Rikku often daydreamed and no matter how much he admonished her for it, she continued to do it.

"Maybe." She lied again.

"…Just try not do it again. Fiends exploit all weaknesses." He said, noticing that the group had gone a little further ahead than he liked almost disappearing into the shadows of the cave.

"Right." She chirped and followed his gaze. _'Hey!'_ She thought. _'They've gone off without us. Those meanies! Leaving me here!'_

"HEY! Forgetting something?" She yelled at the top of her lungs causing Auron to wince slightly. Her shouting had the desired effect, causing the group to stop in their tracks. Her voice carried through the cave echoing over a few times before going silent. Auron moved to return to the group, but Rikku stayed rooted to the spot and ran a hand through her blonde hair. Something was different.

"Rikku." Auron warned since he didn't hear any movement from the younger girl.

"Coming!" She automatically responded then waited as the cave went silent once more. She shivered as she followed Auron back to the others waiting for them. The cave was still far too cold for Rikku and had gone this eerie kind of quiet she didn't like one bit.

"Auron…?" She asked tentatively.

"What?"

"Do you think… its maybe, oh I don't know, a bit quiet perhaps?"

"You mean was."

"Funny. I'm not that noisy." Auron just chuckled at this. "Hey I'm serious! It's gotten creepily quiet all of a sudden." Rikku was beginning to get miffed that Auron wasn't taking her seriously.

"…" Auron was silent.

"You don't believe me?" He glanced about for a moment.

"I'm not familiar with this cave. I wouldn't know." The red cloaked guardian answered diplomatically.

"Well, my women's intuition tells me something isn't right." She said huffily.

"…You're fifteen." Auron stated.

"So?" _'It's like what my mum told me, every woman has their intuition.' _Rikku thought. She glanced forwards at the others; they had continued walking while chatting quietly among themselves not too far up ahead. Rikku wondered what happened to the whole silence thing they had going, but then she preferred it this way.

"Too inexperienced for intuition." Rikku spun her head around to face him and glared at him, she didn't know if Auron was deliberately trying to wind her up or not but the point is; he was doing it.

"I'm more experienced than most other fifteen year olds in Spira!" She argued.

"I never said you weren't." He countered. Rikku was officially confused now and it was definitely showing on her face.

"Then-"

"Quiet." Auron suddenly growled at Rikku.

"Huh?"

"Listen." So she did.

She could definitely hear something. It was an unusual sound, a rhythmic screeching almost which was echoing down the tunnel. She strained her hearing even further to hear the dull thudding of whatever was making this sound. Though as the seconds flew by it got easier to hear, then it just suddenly stopped. She let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding while Auron was perfectly still.

"What was that?" She asked quietly.

"Fiends of some kind." He stated neutrally.

"Do you think they're gone?" Rikku questions apprehensively.

"Perhaps." Came the cryptic statement. A few more minutes passed and the two heard nothing more and began travelling back to the group once more.

Without warning the noise flared up again, worse than before. Dust was falling from the ceiling, small pebbles on the ground were vibrating wildly and Rikku swung her head around to see a pack of stampeding lizards screeching and scrambling towards them.

"RUN!" Rikku instinctively yelled hoping the others would hear her before she heeded her own advice with Auron close on her trail. Immediately she raked around in her belt for a few grenades and after discovering them she didn't hesitate to throw a few behind her in an attempt to slow down the fiends. _'Now,' _She thought. _'I despise this cave.'_


End file.
